Marc Trestman, a championship-winning coach in the Canadian Football League, has been chosen to try to lead the Chicago Bears back to those heights in the NFL
After interviewing at least 13 candidates to replace the recently fired Lovie Smith, the Bears announced Trestman as the 14th head coach in team history with a news release early Wednesday morning. He will be introduced at a news conference on Thursday.
The choice of Trestman, who has been out of the NFL for eight years, may come as a surprise to some. But the Bears have been looking to get the most out of talented yet inconsistent quarterback Jay Cutler, and Trestman is known as a quarterback guru.
Trestman has guided the likes of Bernie Kosar, Steve Young, Scott Mitchell, Jake Plummer and Rich Gannon to success during stints as quarterbacks coach with the University of Miami and offensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders.
He spent the last five years as head coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, a team he led to Grey Cup championships in 2009 and '10.
During that time he also remained involved in the NFL as a consultant and in the off-season helped develop young quarterbacks, one of whom was Cutler.
“The skill set that Marc has, being an offensive mind, and then his great relationships that he's had with quarterbacks historically in the NFL and the work he's done with them makes him a good fit for the job,” Alouettes General Manager Jim Popp said.
The Associated Press is reporting that New Orleans Saints offensive line coach Aaron Kromer has been hired to serve as Trestman's offensive coordinator.
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